Method and apparatus for transmitting uplink signal, and method and apparatus for generating uplink signal in communication system

ABSTRACT

When a terminal generates an uplink signal in a communication system, the terminal hops a sequence for differentiating itself from another terminal with time. The terminal generates the uplink signal by multiplying a transmission symbol by a sequence of a transmission time corresponding to the transmission symbol.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of Ser. No. 12/439,223 filed on Oct.27, 2009, which is a 371 national stage filing of InternationalApplication No. PCT/KR2007/004211, filed on Aug. 31, 2007, which claimspriority to, and the benefit of, Korean Patent Application No.10-2006-0084087, filed on Sep. 1, 2006, Korean Patent Application No.10-2006-0134424, filed on Dec. 27, 2006, Korean Patent Application No.10-2007-0011368, filed on Feb. 5, 2007, Korean Patent Application No.10-2007-0031357, filed on Mar. 30, 2007, and Korean Patent ApplicationNo. 10-2007-0052549, filed on May 30, 2007. The contents of theaforementioned applications are hereby incorporated by reference. Thisapplication is also related to Korean Patent Application No.10-2007-0088097, filed Aug. 31, 2007.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus fortransmitting an uplink signal, and a method and an apparatus forgenerating an uplink signal in a communication system.

In an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) basedcommunication method, interference does not exist between differentusers since the different users use different frequencies for datachannel. A method for using the different frequencies for the differentusers is referred to as frequency division multiplexing (FDM). However,code division multiplexing (CDM) that identifies the users by usingcodes is appropriate for a reference signal or a control channel. TheCDM is superior to the FDM since the CDM can efficiently use resourcesfor the reference signal or the control channel. The CDM is classifiedinto a time domain CDM that directly spreads by OFDM symbol units and afrequency domain CDM that spreads in a frequency domain within one OFDMsymbol.

In the frequency domain CDM, the different users multiply the samesequence by complex sine waves having different phase slopes beforetransmitting the same sequence. At this time, a reason why the complexsine wave is used instead of a Hadamard matrix is because orthogonalitybetween the users can be guaranteed through a signal processing at thereceiver. Since multiplying any sequence by a complex sine wave with aphase that linearly increases with frequency at the frequency domain isthe same as cyclic-shifting in the time domain, a process formultiplying the complex sine wave is referred to as a cyclic-shiftprocess or a cyclic delay process.

The number of users that can be simultaneously admitted in one OFDMsymbol when the frequency domain CDM is used may be given by a functionof a frequency difference between subcarriers and delay spread in thepropagation channel. At this time, granularity of the cyclic-shift ofeach user is set to be greater than a delay spread in the propagationchannel. In a cellular communication environment, the value of themaximum delay spread is arbitrarily set since the maximum delay spreadis difficult to be estimated. Accordingly, a channel delay spread of anyuser may be greater than the cyclic-shift in the cellular communicationenvironment and so, the interference between users may occur.

SUMMARY

The present invention provides a signal transmitting method andapparatus for reducing interference between users in a communicationsystem.

To solve the above technical problem, according to one aspect of thepresent invention, a method of transmitting an uplink signal in aterminal is provided. The method includes multiplying a firsttransmission symbol by a first sequence for differentiating the terminalfrom another terminal, and transmitting the first transmission symbol ata first transmission time. The method further includes multiplying asecond transmission symbol by a second sequence for differentiating theterminal from the other terminal, and transmitting the firsttransmission symbol at a second transmission time different from thefirst transmission time. The second sequence is different from the firstsequence.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a method ofgenerating an uplink signal in a terminal is provided. The methodincludes hopping a sequence for differentiating the terminal from theother terminal with time, and generating the uplink signal bymultiplying a transmission symbol by the sequence of a transmission timecorresponding to the transmission symbol.

At this time, the sequence may correspond to a product of a code fordifferentiating the terminal from the other terminal and a basicsequence, and the code may be hopped with time. Alternatively, thesequence may be a value generated by cyclic-shifting the basic sequence,and the cyclic-shift may be hopped with time. Alternatively, thesequence may be hopped with time based on a cell to which the terminalbelongs.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, a method ofgenerating sequences for uplink signals of a plurality of terminalsincluding a first terminal and a second terminal in a communicationsystem is provided. The method includes setting a first sequence for thefirst terminal, setting a second sequence for the second terminal to bedifferent from the first sequence, and setting hopping patterns of thefirst sequence and the second sequence according to a transmission time.

At this time, the hopping patterns may be set such that the firstsequence of a first transmission time is different from the firstsequence of a second transmission time, and the second sequence of thefirst transmission time is different from the second sequence of thesecond transmission time. Alternatively, the hopping patterns may besuch that, when the first sequence is adjacent to the second sequence ata first transmission time, the first sequence is not adjacent to thesecond sequence at a second transmission time.

In addition, the first sequence may correspond to a product of a basicsequence and a code for the first terminal, and the second sequence maycorrespond to a product of the basic sequence and a code for the secondterminal.

At this time, the first sequence may be given, by the code for the firstterminal, as a sequence generated by shifting the basic sequence by afirst cyclic-shift, and the second sequence may be given, by the codefor the second terminal, as a sequence generated by shifting the basicsequence by a second cyclic-shift. In addition, the hopping patterns maybe patterns for hopping the first and second cyclic-shifts with time.Furthermore, a pattern for changing the basic sequence with time may beset.

Alternatively, the hopping patterns of the first sequence and the secondsequence according to the transmission time may be set based on a cellto which the first terminal belongs and a cell to which the secondterminal belongs, respectively.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, an apparatus fortransmitting an uplink signal in a terminal is provided. The apparatusincludes means for multiplying a first transmission symbol by a firstsequence for differentiating the terminal from another terminal, and fortransmitting the first transmission symbol at a first transmission time;and means for multiplying a second transmission symbol by a secondsequence for differentiating the terminal from the other terminal, andfor transmitting the first transmission symbol at a second transmissiontime different from the first transmission time. The second sequence isdifferent from the first sequence.

According to a still further aspect of the present invention, anapparatus for generating an uplink signal in a terminal is provided. Theapparatus includes means for hopping a sequence for differentiating theterminal from another terminal with time, and means for generating theuplink signal by multiplying a transmission symbol by the sequence ofthe transmission time corresponding to the transmission symbol.

According to a still further aspect of the present invention, anapparatus for generating sequences for uplink signals of a plurality ofterminals including a first terminal and a second terminal in acommunication system is provided. The apparatus includes means forsetting a first sequence for the first terminal, means for setting asecond sequence for the second terminal to be different from the firstsequence, and means for setting hopping patterns of the first sequenceand the second sequence according to a transmission time.

According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, theinterference between the uses and/or the interference between the cellscan be randomized when the frequency domain CDM method is used.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of an uplink signal transmittingapparatus according to a first exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 shows a flow diagram of an uplink signal transmitting methodaccording to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic block diagram of a receiving apparatus in abase station according to the first exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic block diagram of a CDM demapper in thereceiving apparatus of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 shows a flow diagram of a method for extracting a desired usersignal.

FIG. 6 shows a signal extracted by the CDM demapper of FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 shows a time delay domain signal according to the passing of timewhen a general CDM sequence is used.

FIG. 8 shows a time delay domain signal according to the passing of timewhen a CDM sequence is hopped in accordance with the first exemplaryembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 shows a transmission structure of a sounding reference signalaccording to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 shows a transmission structure of an ACK/NACK channel accordingto a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention

FIG. 11 shows a drawing for explaining interference between cells.

FIG. 12 shows an example of a method for arranging the reference signalsof the data channels in a cellular environment.

FIG. 13 shows an example of data transmission in two sectors located atthe same base station.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, only certain exemplaryembodiments of the present invention have been shown and described,simply by way of illustration. As those skilled in the art wouldrealize, the described embodiments may be modified in various differentways, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the presentinvention. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regardedas illustrative in nature and not restrictive. Like reference numeralsdesignate like elements throughout the specification.

Throughout this detailed description and the claims which follow, unlessexplicitly described to the contrary, the word “comprise/include” orvariations such as “comprises/includes” or “comprising/including” willbe understood to imply the inclusion of stated elements but not theexclusion of any other elements. Each block is a unit for processing atleast one function or operation, which can be realized by hardware,software, or a combination of hardware and software.

Now, uplink signal transmitting methods and uplink signal transmittingapparatuses according to exemplary embodiments of the present inventionwill be described with reference to the drawings. While a system usingan OFDM modulation/demodulation is described as an example of acommunication system in the exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention, the present invention can be applicable to variouscommunication systems.

First, an uplink signal transmitting apparatus and an uplink signaltransmitting method of a terminal according to a first exemplaryembodiment of the present invention will be described with reference toFIG. 1 and FIG. 2.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of the uplink signal transmittingapparatus or generating apparatus according to the first exemplaryembodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a flow diagram ofthe uplink signal transmitting method or generating method according tothe first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the uplink signal transmitting apparatus includes aCDM mapper 110, an inverse fast Fourier transformer (IFFT) 120, aparallel/serial converter 130, a cyclic prefix (CP) adder 140, adigital/analog converter 150, and a radio frequency (RF) transmitter160.

Referring to FIG. 2, the CDM mapper 110 multiplies a transmission symbols to be transmitted at a transmission time #n by a sequence c _(i) _(n)^((k)) for differentiating it from that of another user (i.e.,terminal), and allocates the transmission symbol multiplied by thesequence to a frequency bandwidth (step S11). Since the sequence c _(i)_(n) ^((k)) is for identifying the user with a code, the sequence c _(i)_(n) ^((k)) will be referred as a CDM sequence in the exemplaryembodiments of the present invention. The CDM sequence c _(i) _(n)^((k)) of which the transmission symbol s^((k)) of the user #k ismultiplied may be defined as a vector shown in Equation 1.

c _(i) _(n) ^((k)) =[ c _(i) _(n) ^((k))(0) c _(i) _(n) ^((k))(1) . . .c _(i) _(n) ^((k))(N _(f) −N)]  Equation 1

The CDM sequence c _(i) _(n) ^((k)) can be defined as the product of abasic sequence c ₀ and the code ψ _(i) _(n) ^((k)) for identifying theuser as expressed in Equation 2, and the code ψ _(i) _(n) ^((k)) foridentifying the user will be described as a complex sine wave having acharacteristic of a linear phase increase in the exemplary embodimentsof the present invention. Multiplying of the complex sine wave in thefrequency domain corresponds to shifting in the time domain.Accordingly, the CDM sequence c _(i) _(n) ^((k)) is given bycyclic-shifting the basic sequence c ₀ by Δτi_(n)(k) in the time domain.

$\begin{matrix}{{{\overset{\_}{c}}_{i_{n}}^{(k)} = {{\overset{\_}{c}}_{0} \otimes {\overset{\_}{\psi}}_{i_{n}}^{(k)}}}{{\overset{\_}{c}}_{0} = \begin{bmatrix}{c_{0}(0)} & {c_{0}(1)} & \ldots & {c_{0}\left( {N_{f} - 1} \right)}\end{bmatrix}^{T}}{{\overset{\_}{\psi}}_{i_{n}}^{(k)} = \begin{bmatrix}1 & ^{{- j}\frac{2\pi}{N_{f}}{\Delta\tau}\; {i_{n}{(k)}}} & \ldots & ^{{- j}\frac{2\pi}{N_{f}}{({N_{f} - 1})}{\Delta\tau}\; {i_{n}{(k)}}}\end{bmatrix}^{T}}} & {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 2}\end{matrix}$

Here, {circle around (x)} denotes an operation that multiplies eachelement of one vector by each element of the other vector, i_(n)(k)denotes a number of the CDM sequence used by the user #k at thetransmission time #n, and Δτ denotes a granularity of the cyclic-shift,N_(f) denotes the number of subcarriers for transmitting the CDMsequence, and the basic sequence c ₀ is given as a vector.

In Equation 2, the cyclic-shift is determined based on the numberi_(n)(k) of the CDM sequence. For example, the cyclic-shift increases byΔτ when the number i_(i)(k) of the CDM sequence increases by ‘1’.

The IFFT 120 transforms the transmission symbol that is multiplied bythe CDM sequence to a transmission signal of the time domain byperforming an inverse fast Fourier transform (step S12). Theparallel/serial converter 130 converts the transmission signal of thetime domain to a serial transmission signal (step S13), and the CP adder140 adds the CP to the serial transmission signal (step S14). Thedigital/analog converter 150 converts the transmission signal to whichthe CP is added to an analog transmission signal (step S15), and the RFtransmitter 160 converts the analog transmission signal to an RF signaland transmits the RF signal through a transmission antenna 170 (stepS16).

Next, the CDM mapper 110 sets a CDM sequence c _(i) _(n+1) ^((k)) thatis different from the CDM sequence c _(i) _(n) ^((k)) of thetransmission time #n to a CDM sequence of a transmission time #(n+1)(step S17), and repeats from the step S11. The CDM mapper 110 changesthe CDM sequence c _(i) _(n) ^((k)) with time by changing the numberi_(n)(k) of the CDM sequence c _(i) _(n) ^((k)) with time, that is, bychanging a cyclic-shift value for the cyclic-shift with time. A patternfor changing the cyclic-shift value may be stored in the terminal in theformat of a lookup table.

On the other hand, channels using the CDM sequence according to thefirst exemplary embodiment of the present invention may be channels forallocating a plurality of users to the same frequency bandwidth at thesame time domain. For example, a sounding reference signal or anACK/NACK channel may use the CDM sequence. The sounding reference signalis a wideband signal that is periodically transmitted by the terminal,and is used for estimating the uplink channel characteristic, forcontrolling the uplink power, and for estimating the timing. Therefore,all users transmit the sounding reference signals by using the samefrequency bandwidth at the same time. The ACK/NACK channel is a channelfor informing whether or not the terminal has received downlink packetdata, and is required to have excellent performance at a lowsignal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Therefore, a lot of frequencies and timeresources are allocated to the ACK/NACK channel, and a plurality ofusers simultaneously could access the ACK/NACK channel. Accordingly, theCDM sequence according to the exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention may be applicable to the sounding reference signal and theACK/NACK channel.

In FIG. 1, the transmission symbol s^((k)) is ‘1’ when the CDM sequenceis used for the sounding reference signal, and the transmission symbols^((k)) is an ACK/NACK symbol to be transmitted when the CDM sequence isused for the ACK/NACK channel.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic block diagram of a receiving apparatus in abase station according to the first exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, and FIG. 4 shows a schematic block diagram of a CDM demapperin the receiving apparatus of FIG. 3. FIG. 5 shows a flow diagram of amethod for extracting a desired user signal, and FIG. 6 shows a signalextracted by the CDM demapper of FIG. 4.

As shown in FIG. 3, the receiving apparatus includes an RF receiver 210,an analog/digital converter 220, a CP remover 230, a serial/parallelconverter 240, a fast Fourier transformer (FFT) 250, and a CDM demapper260.

The RF receiver 210 receives K user signals from K terminals through areceiving antenna 270, and converts the K user signals to a basebandsignal. The analog/digital converter 220 converts the baseband signal toa digital received signal. The CP remover 230 removes the CP from thedigital received signal, and the serial/parallel converter 240 convertsthe digital received signal from which the CP is removed to a parallelreceived signal. The FFT 250 transforms the parallel received signal toa frequency domain received signal by performing a fast Fouriertransform. The CDM demapper 260 estimates a vector s^((k)) H _(n) ^((k))from the frequency domain received signal by using the CDM sequence c_(i) _(n) ^((k)) at the transmission time of the user #k (where k is anumber within a range from 0 to (K−1)). At this time, the vector isgiven by a product of the transmission symbol of the user #k and achannel vector.

The frequency domain received signal X _(n) transformed by the FFT 250can be expressed as Equation 3.

$\begin{matrix}{\begin{matrix}{{\overset{\_}{X}}_{n} = \begin{bmatrix}{X_{n}(0)} & {X_{n}(1)} & \ldots & {X_{n}\left( {N_{f} - 1} \right)}\end{bmatrix}^{T}} \\{= {\sum\limits_{k = 0}^{K - 1}\; {s^{(k)}{{\overset{\_}{H}}_{n}^{(k)} \otimes {\overset{\_}{c}}_{i_{n}}^{(k)}}}}}\end{matrix}{{\overset{\_}{H}}_{n}^{(k)} = \begin{bmatrix}{H_{n}^{(k)}(0)} & {H_{n}^{(k)}(1)} & \ldots & {H_{n}^{(k)}\left( {N_{f} - 1} \right)}\end{bmatrix}^{T}}} & {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 3}\end{matrix}$

Here, {circle around (x)} denotes an operation that multiplies eachelement of one vector by each element of the other vector, H_(n)^((k))(j) denotes a channel value corresponding to the j^(th)subcarrier.

As shown in FIG. 4, the CDM demapper 260 includes a basic sequencedescrambler 261, an inverse discrete Fourier transformer (IDFT) 262, atime delay domain extractor 263, and a discrete Fourier transformer(DFT) 264.

Referring to FIG. 5, the basic sequence descrambler 261 descrambles thebasic sequence by multiplying each element of the frequency domainreceived signal X _(n) by each element of the conjugated basic sequencec ₀ as expressed in Equation 4 (step S21).

Y _(n) X _(n){circle around (x)} c ₀*  Equation 4

Here, Y _(n) denotes an output of the basic sequence descrambler 261.

The IDFT 262 transforms the output Y _(n) of the basic sequencedescrambler 261 to a time delay domain signal g _(n) by performing aninverse discrete Fourier transform (step S22). It is assumed that ‘k’ isallocated to the CDM sequence number i_(n)(k) of the user #k, and the Kuser signals are transmitted through the same frequency domain at thesame time domain. Then, channel delay profiles of the K user signalsappear in the time delay domain signal g _(n) as shown in FIG. 6, and atime delay between the two adjacent users is Δτ. The time delay domainextractor 262 extracts a domain allocated to the user #k at thetransmission time #n, and moves data of the extracted domain into anorigin to output the time delay domain signal g _(n) ^((k)) of the user#k (step S23). The DFT 264 transforms the time delay domain signal g_(n) ^((k)) of the user #k to a desired user signal, i.e., a signal ofthe user #k, by performing a discrete Fourier transform (step S24).

Next, the effect that a multipath of a user having a channel delayspread has on the other users will be described with reference to FIG. 7and FIG. 8.

FIG. 7 shows a time delay domain signal according to the passing of timewhen a general CDM sequence is used, and FIG. 8 shows a time delaydomain signal according to the passing of time when the CDM sequence ishopped in accordance with the first exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 7, a multipath of a user #0 having the channel delayspread has the effect on an interval of a user #1 such that interferencecan occur between the users. If the interference occurs in the soundingreference signal, the channel estimation performance of the user #1deteriorates. Particularly, the channel estimation performance becomesworse when the user #0 has a larger received power than the user #1. Inthis case, if the same CDM sequence is continuously allocated to thesame user even though time is passed, the multipath of the user #0continuously has the effect on the interval of the user #1 in the timedelay domain signals g ₀− g _(N−1) such that the channel estimationperformance of the user #1 continues to deteriorate.

As shown in FIG. 8, according to the first exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention, the CDM sequence of each user is changed with timesuch that the users that are adjacent to each other in the time delaydomain signals are changed. As a result, the interference between theusers can be randomized. That is, the multipath of the user #0 has theeffect on the interval of the user #1 in the time delay domain signal g₀, but has the effect on the intervals of the user #2 and the user #3 inthe time delay domain signals g ₁ and g _(N−1), respectively.Accordingly, the channel estimation performance of only one user is notdeteriorated by the multipath of the user #0 but the channel estimationperformances of the plurality of users can be randomly deteriorated.

Next, a method for allocating the different CDM sequences to the userwith time will be described with reference to Table 1 and Table 2. Table1 and Table 2 show a CDM sequence allocation method according to thefirst exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

TABLE 1 i₀ i₁ . . . i_(N−1) User #0 m₀(0) m₀(1) . . . m₀(N − 1) User #1m₁(0) m₁(1) . . . m₁(N − 1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . User #(K − 1)m_(K−1)(0) m_(K−1)(1) m_(K−1)(N − 1) m_(K−1)(N − 1)

Here, i_(n) denotes a CDM sequence number of the transmission time #n,and m_(k)(n) denotes the cyclic-shift value that is transmitted by theuser #k at the transmission time #n. The m_(k)(n) has any one of thecyclic-shift values from 0 to (K−1) as expressed in Equation 5.

∀n, m _(k)(n)ε{0, 1, 2, . . . , K−1}, 0≦k≦K−1  Equation 5

In order to randomize the interference between the users, two differentusers use the different CDM sequences at one time domain. In addition,when the two users use the adjacent CDM sequences at one time domain,the two users use CDM sequences that are not adjacent to each other. Asshown in an example of Table 2, the base station and the terminalallocate the different cyclic-shift values to the different users at onetime domain, hop the cyclic-shift values with time, and allocate thehopped cyclic-shift values to the users. Then, the CDM sequence ishopped with time. The hopping pattern of the cyclic-shift is set suchthat the two users that have used the adjacent cyclic-shift values atone time domain use the cyclic-shift values that are not adjacent toeach other at the other time domain. For example, when the hoppingpattern of each user is set as shown in Table 2, the cyclic-shift valuesof the user #0 and the user #1 are adjacent to each other at thetransmission time #0, but the cyclic-shift values of the user #0 and theuser #1 are not adjacent to each other.

TABLE 2 i₀ i₁ User #0 0 3 User #1 1 5 User #2 2 2 User #3 3 0 User #4 44 User #5 5 1

The cyclic-shift hopping pattern is a pattern that is predeterminedbetween the base station and the terminal. The base station informs theterminal of information on the cyclic-shift hopping pattern at initialaccess, and the terminal and the base station may store the cyclic-shifthopping pattern, respectively. The cyclic-shift hopping pattern may beset by the base station or an upper node of the base station in thecommunication system. That is, the base station or the upper node mayset the CDM sequences on the plurality of user and the cyclic-shifthopping patterns thereof.

Next, exemplary embodiments that respectively apply the cyclic-shifthopping pattern according to the first exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention to the sounding reference signal and the ACK/NACKchannel will be described with reference to FIG. 9 and FIG. 10.

FIG. 9 shows a transmission structure of the sounding reference signalaccording to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention, andFIG. 10 shows a transmission structure of the ACK/NACK channel accordingto a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 9, all users transmit the sounding reference signalsthrough the same frequency bandwidth at the same time domain. Since thesounding reference signal uses the CDM sequence c _(i) _(n) ^((k)) towhich the cyclic-shift of Table 1 is applied, the different CDMsequences are allocated to the different users such that the users areidentified. After the base station estimates the channel characteristicof each user by using the sounding reference signal, the base stationinforms each user of a frequency bandwidth having an excellent channelcharacteristic. Then, the user may transmit data through the frequencybandwidth that is informed by the base station. In addition, the basestation may measure received power of each user and estimate a timingerror of each user by using the sounding reference signal.

Meanwhile, since the user may move in a wireless communication system,the terminal periodically transmits the sounding reference signal asshown in FIG. 9. Then, the base station may periodically estimatechannel characteristics by using the sounding reference signal. Asdescribed with reference to Table 1 and Table 2, the base station andthe terminal hop the cyclic-shift value with time when the soundingreference signal is periodically transmitted such that the interferencebetween the users is randomized.

Referring to FIG. 10, the CDM sequence is used for the reference signal,e.g., a pilot signal, and the ACK/NACK signal in the transmissionstructure according to the third exemplary embodiment. That is, threeOFDM symbols are used for the reference signals and four OFDM symbolsare used for the ACK/NACK symbols in the structure for transmittingseven OFDM symbols and N_(f) subcarriers.

The output of the CDM demapper (260 of FIG. 2) at a transmission time ofthe reference signal is a channel estimate

Ĥ_(n)^(W_((k))),

n=1, 3, 5 at the corresponding transmission time, and the output of theCDM demapper at a transmission time of the ACK/NACK signal is a product

y_(n) = s^((k))Ĥ_(n)^(W_((k)))

(n=0, 2, 4, 6) of the ACK/NACK symbol s^((k)) and the channel estimateat the corresponding transmission time. Then, a receiver of the basestation compensates the outputs of the CDM demapper 260 with the channelestimates, and acquires an estimate on the ACK/NACK symbol by summingthe compensated outputs as expressed in Equation 6.

$\begin{matrix}{\hat{s} = {\frac{1}{4}{\sum\limits_{j = 0}^{3}\; {y_{2j}\left( {\hat{H}}_{2j}^{W_{(k)}} \right)}^{*}}}} & {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 6}\end{matrix}$

As shown in FIG. 10, the base station and the terminal may use onecyclic-shift hopping pattern by sequentially allocating the CDMsequences to the reference signal and the ACK/NACK signal in order ofthe transmission time. Alternatively, the base station and the terminalmay set the cyclic-shift hopping pattern for the reference signal to bedifferent from the cyclic-shift hopping pattern of the ACK/NACK signal.As a further alternative, the base station and the terminal may applythe cyclic-shift hopping pattern to any one of the reference signal andthe ACK/NACK signal.

While it has been described that four symbols such as ACK/NACK symbolstransmit the same symbols s^((k)) in FIG. 10, the cyclic-shift hoppingpattern according to the first exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention can be applicable to a channel quality indicator (CQI)channel. The CQI channel is used when the terminal transmits downlinkchannel information to the base station. In CQI channel, differentsymbols can be transmitted through the whole data blocks, i.e., the OFDMsymbols, except for the reference signals.

As described above, while it has been described that K cyclic-shiftvalues are used for the K users in the first to the third exemplaryembodiments of the present invention, the K cyclic-shift valuesextracted from more than K cyclic-shift values may be allocated to the Kusers and be hopped with time.

In addition, the base station and the terminal may change the number ofcyclic-shift values in accordance with a cell environment or a cellload, and this exemplary embodiment will be described below.

In a fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the basestation and the terminal classify entire sequences for the cyclic-shiftvalues into a plurality of groups, and sets a minimum difference betweenthe cyclic-shift values of each group to be greater than 1. For example,the base station and the terminal may divide all the sequences ofEquation 5 into two groups as expressed in Equation 7. Then, when thenumber of the cyclic-shift values used in the cell is less than or equalto (K/2), the base station and the terminal set the cyclic-shift valueswith the sequences of the first group and hop the cyclic-shift valueswith time. Since the first group has the even-numbered cyclic-shiftvalues, the minimum difference between the cyclic-shift values is 2.When the number of the cyclic-shift values used in the cell is greaterthan (K/2), the base station and the terminal set the cyclic-shiftvalues with the sequences of the first and second groups and hop thecyclic-shift values with time. In this case, the minimum differencebetween the cyclic-shift values is 1.

∀n, m _(k)(n)ε{0, 2, 4, . . . , K−1}, 0≦k≦K/2−1

∀n, m _(k)(n)ε{1, 3, 5, . . . , K−2}, K/2≦k≦K−1  Equation 7

According to the fourth exemplary embodiment, when a small number ofsequences are required in accordance with the time and the cellenvironment, the cyclic-shift values are allocated from the group inwhich the minimum difference between the sequences is great such thatthe interference between the users is reduced.

When the time delay spread of the radio channel is different accordingto surroundings of the cell, the cyclic-shift values may be allocatedfrom the (K/2) sequences of the first group in the case of the greattime delay spread, and the cyclic-shift values may be allocated from theK sequences in the case of a small time delay spread.

FIG. 11 shows a drawing for explaining the interference between thecells.

When a first user 311 uses a cell #0 of a first base station 312 as ahome cell, and a second user 321 uses a cell #1 of a second base station322 as the home cell, a signal transmitted by the second user may bereceived in the cell #0. In this case, if the first and second usershave the same cyclic-shift hopping pattern, the CDM sequences of the twousers may be continuously conflicted. Accordingly, the base station andthe terminal according to a fifth exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention set the cyclic-shift hopping pattern based on the cell towhich the user belongs as shown in Equation 8, Table 3, and Table 4.

i _(n) =[m _(k)(n)+H _(c)(n)]% K  Equation 8

Here, H_(c)(n) denotes a cell code value allocated to the cell #c at thetransmission time #n, K denotes the maximum number of the users, and %denotes the modulo operation.

TABLE 3 i₀ . . . i_(N−1) User #0 [m₀(0) + H₀(0)]% K . . . [m₀(N − 1) +H₀(N − 1)]% K User #1 [m₁(0) + H₀(0)]% K . . . [m₁(N − 1) + H₀(N − 1)]%K . . . . . . . . . . . . User [m_(K−1)(0) + H₀(0)]% K . . . [m_(K−1)(N− 1) + H₀(N − 1)]% K #(K − 1)

TABLE 4 i₀ . . . i_(N−1) User #0 [m₀(0) + H₁(0)]% K . . . [m₀(N − 1) +H₁(N − 1)]% K User #1 [m₁(0) + H₁(0)]% K . . . [m₁(N − 1) + H₁(N − 1)]%K . . . . . . . . . . . . User [m_(K−1)(0) + H₁(0)]% K . . . [m_(K−1)(N− 1) + H₁(N − 1)]% K #(K − 1)

According to the fifth exemplary embodiment, even though the user #k ofthe cell #0 and the user #k of the cell #1 use the same m_(k)(n), thetwo users use different cyclic-shift values since the cell #0 and thecell #1 have different cells codes. Accordingly, since the users thatbelong to the different cells use the different CDM sequences at thesame transmission time, the interference between the cells is prevented.

In the first to fifth exemplary embodiments of the present invention, ithas been described that the basic sequence is fixed and the cyclic-shiftis hopped to hop the CDM sequence. However, the basic sequence may bevaried with time while the cyclic-shift is hopped such that theinterference between the cells is reduced.

In addition, the cyclic-shift hopping pattern according to the exemplaryembodiments of the present invention can be applicable to the case wherethe users are located at the different cells or sectors like a referencesignal of a data channel used for a coherent demodulation of the datachannel. This exemplary embodiment will be described with reference toFIG. 12 and FIG. 13.

FIG. 12 shows an example of a method for arranging the reference signalsof the data channels in a cellular environment, and FIG. 13 shows anexample of data transmission in two sectors located at the same basestation. Seven base stations are shown in FIG. 12 for easy description.

As shown in FIG. 12, the seven base stations use different basesequences, i.e., basic sequence numbers u_(n). Each base stationincludes three sectors, and the three sectors use sequences which areobtained by cyclic-shifting the same basic sequence by the differentvalues. While it has been shown in FIG. 12 that two differentcyclic-shift values are allocated to each sector, one cyclic-shift valuecan be allocated to each sector.

Referring to FIG. 13, a user #1 transmits data in a sector α, and theuser #1 is differentiated form the other users of the sector a by thefrequency. The data are transmitted in a subframe unit, and thereference signal which is common to all users of the sector α istransmitted twice in each subframe. A user #2 transmits data in a sectorβ, and the data transmission structure of the sector β is similar to thesector α. At this time, the interference between the users within onesector does not exist as shown in FIG. 13. However, the user #1 of thesector α and the user #2 of the sector β use the same time/frequencyresources, and use sequences, which are obtained by cyclic-shifting thesame basic sequence by the different values, as the reference signals,respectively. Herein, the interference between the users may exist whentime delay in a channel is great. Accordingly, a sixth exemplaryembodiment of the present invention randomizes the interference betweenthe users by changing the cyclic-shift value with time. At this time,the basic sequence may be, changed with time.

Table 5 shows an example of a cyclic shift hopping pattern and a basicsequence hopping pattern on the reference signal of the data channel.Referring to Table 5, whenever the reference signal is transmitted, thebasic sequence number u_(n) and the cyclic-shift, i.e., the CDM sequencenumber i_(n) is changed.

TABLE 5 (u₀, i₀) (u₁, i₁) (u₂, i₂) (u₃, i₃) Base Sector α (0, 0) (2, 0)(0, 0) (5, 0) station Sector β (0, 1) (2, 2) (0, 1) (5, 2) #0 Sector γ(0, 2) (2, 1) (0, 2) (5, 1) Sector α (0, 3) (2, 3) (0, 3) (5, 3) Sectorβ (0, 4) (2, 5) (0, 4) (5, 5) Sector γ (0, 5) (2, 4) (0, 5) (5, 4) BaseSector α (1, 0) (4, 0) (2, 0) (7, 0) station Sector β (1, 1) (4, 2)(2, 1) (7, 2) #1 Sector γ (1, 2) (4, 1) (2, 2) (7, 1) Sector α (1, 3)(4, 3) (2, 3) (7, 3) Sector β (1, 4) (4, 5) (2, 4) (7, 5) Sector γ (1,5) (4, 4) (2, 5) (7, 4)

While this invention has been described in connection with what ispresently considered to be practical exemplary embodiments, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited to the disclosedembodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover variousmodifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit andscope of the appended claims.

The above-described methods and apparatuses are not only realized by theexemplary embodiments of the present invention, but, on the contrary,are intended to be realized by a program for realizing functionscorresponding to the configurations of the exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention or a recording medium for recording the program.

1. A method of transmitting an uplink signal in a terminal, the methodcomprising: multiplying a first transmission symbol by a first sequencefor differentiating the terminal from another terminal, and transmittingthe first transmission symbol at a first transmission time; andmultiplying a second transmission symbol by a second sequence fordifferentiating the terminal from the other terminal, and transmittingthe first transmission symbol at a second transmission time differentfrom the first transmission time, wherein the second sequence isdifferent from the first sequence.
 2. A method of generating an uplinksignal in a terminal, the method comprising: hopping a sequence foridentifying the terminal from another terminal with time; and generatingthe uplink signal by multiplying a transmission symbol by the sequenceof a transmission time corresponding to the transmission symbol.
 3. Themethod of claim 2, wherein the sequence corresponds to a product of acode for identifying the terminal from the other terminal and a basicsequence, and the hopping of the sequence comprises hopping the codewith time.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein the sequence is a valuegenerated by cyclic-shifting the basic sequence, and the hopping of thesequence comprises hopping the cyclic-shift with time.
 5. The method ofclaim 2, wherein the hopping of the sequence comprises hopping thesequence with time based on a cell to which the terminal belongs.
 6. Amethod of generating sequences for uplink signals of a plurality ofterminals including a first terminal and a second terminal in acommunication system, the method comprising: setting a first sequencefor the first terminal; setting a second sequence for the secondterminal to be different from the first sequence; and setting hoppingpatterns of the first sequence and the second sequence according to atransmission time.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the setting of thehopping patterns comprises: setting the hopping patterns such that thefirst sequence of a first transmission time is different from the firstsequence of a second transmission time; and setting the hopping patternssuch that the second sequence of the first transmission time isdifferent from the second sequence of the second transmission time. 8.The method of claim 6, wherein the setting of the hopping patternscomprises setting the hopping patterns such that, when the firstsequence is adjacent to the second sequence at a first transmissiontime, the first sequence is not adjacent to the second sequence at asecond transmission time.
 9. The method of claim 6, wherein the firstsequence corresponds to a product of a basic sequence and a code for thefirst terminal, and the second sequence corresponds to a product of thebasic sequence and a code for the second terminal.
 10. The method ofclaim 9, wherein the first sequence is given, by the code for the firstterminal, as a sequence generated by shifting the basic sequence by afirst cyclic-shift, and the second sequence is given, by the code forthe second terminal, as a sequence generated by shifting the basicsequence by a second cyclic-shift.
 11. The method of claim 10, whereinthe hopping patterns are patterns for hopping the first and secondcyclic-shifts with time.
 12. The method of claim 9, wherein the settingof the hopping patterns further comprises setting a pattern for changingthe basic sequence with time.
 13. The method of claim 6, wherein thesetting of the hopping patterns comprises setting the hopping patternsof the first sequence and the second sequence according to thetransmission time based on a cell to which the first terminal belongsand a cell to which the second terminal belongs, respectively.
 14. Anapparatus for transmitting an uplink signal in a terminal, the apparatuscomprising: means for multiplying a first transmission symbol by a firstsequence for differentiating the terminal from another terminal, and fortransmitting the first transmission symbol at a first transmission time;and means for multiplying a second transmission symbol by a secondsequence for differentiating the terminal from the other terminal, andfor transmitting the first transmission symbol at a second transmissiontime different from the first transmission time, wherein the secondsequence is different from the first sequence.
 15. An apparatus forgenerating an uplink signal in a terminal, the apparatus comprising:means for hopping a sequence for identifying the terminal from the otherterminal with time; and means for generating the uplink signal bymultiplying a transmission symbol by the sequence of the transmissiontime corresponding to the transmission symbol.
 16. An apparatus forgenerating sequences for uplink signals of a plurality of terminalsincluding a first terminal and a second terminal in a communicationsystem, the apparatus comprising: means for setting a first sequence forthe first terminal; means for setting a second sequence for the secondterminal to be different from the first sequence; and means for settinghopping patterns of the first sequence and the second sequence accordingto a transmission time.